The meeting was called to order by Sheila Rose, Vice Chair at 7:30 a.m., after which all present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of Minutes

Ms. Rose skipped the approval of the minutes for the time being as there was no quorum and moved on to discuss the items on the agenda.

Mr. Harbin introduced two new members, Bruce Edwards and Jack Mathison and both gave a brief introduction of themselves.

Employee of the Month for August and September 2008

Fabio Lopez was congratulated as Employee of the Month for October and Eric Rynning for the month of November. They were both applauded for their accomplishments and work ethics and were awarded a framed certificate of appreciation and a gift certificate for an area restaurant.

Park Manager’s Report

Bill Gilmartin, manager at TY Park welcomed the Board. A lot of work has been done to the park since the last time the Board visited. A new gate house was constructed, the roadways have been re-paved, a freestyle pool with zero-depth was put into the aquatic center and the public just loved it. The campgrounds have also been completely redone, 61 news sites were put in with full hook up and 50 amp electric service. The camp season was completely booked last year and the reservations are full for the coming year. The budget for TY Park is at about $1.7 million, last year the park took in approximately $1.4 million.

Parks and Recreation Division (Parks) Update

Mr. Harbin shared that the Caribbean Carnival was held last month at Central Broward Regional Park and was a success. There was a very positive editorial in the Sun-Sentinel and Mr. Harbin is proud of staff, who worked hard to make it a success. Last week, staff selected a vendor for the food concessions and it turned out to be Toby's Concession Services which is the same vendor that is at Central Broward Regional Park. They have done an exceptional job for us. The Vista View bids have come in, will be awarded soon and the construction for that park will get started. November 20 is the opening of the Holiday Fantasy of Lights show this year at Tradewinds Park North and the names of the Board members will be left at the front gate in order for them to get in at a discounted price. Parks worked with this year’s vendor, John Brandano, and the proceeds for the opening event will all go to benefit the United Way. Mr. Brandano is operating the event completely at his expense, no cost to the County. Parks will also receive $1000 per night for the use of Tradewinds Park. Next month, SWIM Central and the Children's Services Council will provide a PowerPoint presentation illustrating where we are and what we have accomplished with SWIM Central. Our staff and the Children’s Services Council staff went back five years and reviewed statistics of the number of drownings. The statistics found that not one of the children that had drowned were part of the SWIM Central program. Finally, Parks are getting ready to hear presentations from companies that will provide online reservations within our park systems. This will bring us into the world of automation for shelters, camping, league standings, etc.

Bond Construction Update

Jaime Plana resigned three weeks ago. Jim Federici was his assistant and he is now in that acting capacity. In addition to Mr. Plana leaving, the Planning Section was transferred to Public Works. Mr. Federici presented a summary sheet of what is happening with the Bond Program. Brian Piccolo, CB Smith and Markham Parks have all had more campgrounds added. Plantation Heritage has a new gate house and a fountain room. Sunview and Tree Tops Park have had infrastructure improvements. The project that staff is working on now is something called prototypes. There is a maintenance prototype, a corporate prototype, and covered basketball court facility prototype. Mr. Harbin added that in order to save money and time staff had one standard drawing for similar facilities for pavilions and adapted them for each site. A couple of design build projects are in progress. Design-Build Two, in the north part of the county and staff will review the proposals and presentations and then decide who they would like to go with. The Vinkenmulder parcel in Tradewinds North was purchased a several years ago and construction will start on that. Sharon Kent complimented staff on moving forward with the Bond issues and completing the projects in a timely manner.

Old Business

Mr. Harbin suggested that we move on to the amusement ride item since two vendors are present for this meeting. We will have a quick discussion, however we cannot vote on this item because there is no quorum at this time. This Board will have a discussion and reschedule the vote. Mr. Harlan presented the proposed policy for amusement rides. Since the last Board meeting two meetings have occurred with the vendors, staff, and the County Attorney. The main issue throughout the meetings was the difference between kiddie rides, non-kiddie rides, and super rides, the three different kinds of amusement rides that are licensed by the state. Kiddie rides are defined by patrons of 12 years of age and under and must be licensed once a year, non-kiddie rides are 12 years and older and must be licensed as they are setup. Under permitting, staff is recommending that bounce houses, inflatables up to 30 feet, trampolines, and reverse bungee; up to three kiddie rides per event are approved. Prohibited apparatus items would be waterslides, water activities and non-kiddie rides. That is the purpose of the whole policy and Parks reserve the right to state how many rides in the location within each individual Park and the normal insurance and licensing requirements remain in place. Present today is a vendor that took part in all the meetings, Kevin Banks from Off-The-Wall Entertainment. The vendor stated that for the most part both sides conceded items in order to come to a mutual agreement. Bruce Edwards asked to clarify whether this was a house cleaning item or this is something that was just enacted and drawn up. Mr. Harbin stated this is something that was implemented about six months ago and the Board of County Commissioners felt that as a policy this should come from them. The industry as a whole were using our Parks but there was no coordination with our staff, they would to show up and staff had no idea whether they were insured or licensed and the big issue was the damage to the parks, especially with the large amusement rides. Mr. Edwards asked how this would apply to individuals as opposed to companies. Individuals may still operate; however, they had to prove that they are licensed and insured. Patrons may still hire vendors to attend a party; however, during the rental process will be advised of the requirements for each vendor to operate in the park system. Jack Mathison stated that they have been doing this in the City of Hollywood for two years; there is no difficulty in finding a vendor that is licensed and insured. The policy also puts the responsibility back on the vendor. Sharon Kent was concerned about the possibility of rides being set up in the natural areas, we want to protect those. Bob Harbin stated staff will not allow rides to be set up in the natural areas. Sheila Rose asked if there would be different requirements for a County event. Mr. Harlan replied the same requirements would be in place. Mr. Mathison further stated that a yearly fee may be considered as a deposit in order to protect and repair any property damage. Ms. Rose agreed and further stated that the cost of power supply should also be considered. Mr. Banks put in that that has been considered and the vendor must have a generator for their power supply. Ms. Rose asked if there was a consensus to move the policy forward as is or amended suggesting a fee. Ms. Thurston asked what the vendor will present at the park gate in order to provide proof that they are authorized to be there. Mr. Harlan advised the vendors are on an approved County vendor list. There will be penalties for violators of the regulation. The first offense is a warning from the County Attorney's office; second offense would be to remove the vendor from the approved vendor list for one year. This is being brought forward by way of a resolution rather than an ordinance so that the penalty would not be a considered a criminal offense. The Commission is looking for a formal recommendation from the Advisory Board; therefore, this Board will table the item until their next meeting in order to get feedback from the other members prior to moving it forward.

Shelly Turetzky is presenting the proposed agreement for the Garden of Reflection. The last time this Board met, they were presented with a conceptual proposal for the garden which was received favorably. Based on comments on from this Board, the Urban Wilderness Board, and the Town of Davie, there was fine tuning with regards to the concept. Staff is sharing the redesign and advised that staff is working on the agreement which is scheduled to go to the Commission on December 2. Ms. Kent asked Ms. Turetzky to review how this concept came before the Parks Advisory Board for the new member's information. Mr. Edwards inquired about the plaques on the memorial wall and Ms. Turetzky explained there are criteria as to how names are submitted for memorial consideration.

Ms. Turetzky is also presenting the Advisory Boards Strategic Plan and By-laws that were submitted at the Board's last meeting. The direction in which staff is heading with the strategic plan objectives will require the Board’s input as to how they would like to proceed in order to accomplish this. For instance, secret shopper visits to parks, helping the Division to define collaborative partnerships or sponsors for events or helping Parks to enhance volunteer efforts. This strategic plan is reflective of the Division’s strategic plan and the Commission’s goals. This item will be tabled for the next meeting in order to move forward.

New Business

Bill Spute’s resignation was recognized. Bob Harbin suggested the Board send a letter thanking him for his service. Ms. Rose recommended a plaque as well.

Mr. Harbin asked the Board to think about the nomination of a new Chair. The election will be held at the beginning of the year and next month the Board should put in nominations. Ms. Rose asked to put this on the agenda for the next meeting.

New park passes for the board members have been issued. Laura Frank will pass them out to the members.

Mark Gross is an engineer that works with Mr. Federici and will be presenting the Carpenter House master plan. Mr. Gross gave a brief explanation of where the Carpenter House is located in order to orient the new members. A few milestones in the timeline of the Carpenter House are June 2005 a Florida Communities Trust grant provided funding for acquisition of the site; March 2006 the site was rezoned for medium density and commercial use for government property; September 2006 the site was rezoned; March of 2008 the master plan was presented to the Urban Wilderness Board. Contingent on approval from this Board, staff plans are to bring this before the Commission. We recently went out to bid for the exterior and interior renovations on the site, which have been received and staff expects construction completion of that activity in July 2009. Mr. Edwards asked what the operating capacity of the facility is. There is a small meeting facility, which is mainly for an environmental center and educational uses. Parking will be mainly on metered parking streets. The public beach is maintained by the City and the County's responsibility ends at the dune. Ms. Kent commented that this is a wonderful acquisition for the general public to have this type of facility next to the beach and wished the County had more foresight to buy additional beachfront property when it might have been feasible. This item will be tabled for the next meeting in order to move this forward.